Although Paramount hasn’t made any announcements about another TMNT movie in the near future, there is at least one director who appears to be interested in the idea. During a recent interview, David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story) expressed an interest in directing his own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. How the topic of conversation went from an offbeat independent film to our heroes in a half shell is beyond me, but it just goes to show that it’s always appropriate to talk turtles.
“I would do a Ninja Turtles movie…I thought Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was the best movie ever when that came out. I went back and watched that and I was like, oh man, I feel so bad for my parents for having to sit through this three times with me. I bought the soundtrack on cassette…”
If you grew up in the 90’s, chances are that you’re on the same page with Lowery. We all had our favorite TMNT movie from the original trilogy, and the second film was definitely a popular choice. Either way, it’s nice to see that there’s a shellhead out there who is actually interested in bringing the turtles back to the silver screen. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that he’ll ever get the opportunity to work on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
With all of that said, it’s important to note that he’s definitely got a good resume for the job. Though most of his projects have been somewhat independent and he tends to work on more dramatic films than anything else, his experience with Pete’s Dragon might actually put him in a good spot for this particular role. He’s proven that he can handle big budget productions and he also works well with fantasy films. As far as I can tell, Paramount hired Dave Green based on similar credentials, so there’s definitely a possibility that they would consider Lowery for a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
Even though he liked the second film, something tells me that the next TMNT movie isn’t going to look like this. Image Source: Paramount, Nickelodeon.
Sadly, we have yet to see or hear any indication from Paramount that they have any interest in producing another TMNT movie. We know that Viacom still has an interest in promoting the brand and keeping it in the public consciousness, but they have yet to announce any plans for future films in the franchise. Something tells me that they will eventually attempt a reboot, but who knows when that will happen. When asked about the latest batch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies, Lowery said the following:
“I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first one, but had high praise for the sequel, The second one actually felt like a literal recreation of the cartoon. It was so true to the cartoon. Even with Krang flying away at the end, saying, “I’ll be back” – like shaking his tentacle at them. It was so goofy, but I liked it…”
We feel you, David.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would love to see David Lowery working on a new Ninja Turtles film. Here’s hoping that if Paramount ever decides to make another movie in the franchise, they will consider Mr. Lowery for the role of director.
